


Bread Brings Us Together

by Mercury_Nacht



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-29 16:36:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3903265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercury_Nacht/pseuds/Mercury_Nacht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Berwald owns a bakery in a city. He's had it for a year and has built up some regulars, but one day, a man wanders into it. Will this be the beginning of a new friendship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have other fics I definitely need to be writing, but I really had the urge to write this. This isn't going to be but like 4 chapters and it's all going to be from Berwald's perspective. Also I didn't do a lot of his "accent" because I don't like it.  
> (Do people still do disclaimers?)

The bell over the door chimed, signaling the door had been opened. Berwald picked his head up from the counter. Being up early in the morning was not his forte, though he had done it every day since he opened a bakery. He adjusted his glasses and noticed the customer was one of his handful of regulars. Knowing better than to try and smile (people thought he was glaring when he did), Berwald nodded and said hello to the man, Alfred. The upbeat twenty-something year old had been one of his first customers when the shop opened a year ago, and he came by almost every day.

"Th' usual?" Berwald questioned his thick accent showing through.

"You know it! But can I also get a blueberry muffin? It's for one of my friends at work." Berwald nodded while he dropped several muffins into a paper bag, which he set on the counter. Alfred handed him money and grabbed the bag before heading to leave.

"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow Ber!" The always gleeful man called as he left the bakery. Berwald sighed and looked at the clock. 7:10 A.M., it read. He started to mentally prepare himself for the morning rush that would occur at any minute. _I really ought to hire an assistant,_ he thought to himself. Berwald heard the door open and knew that his free time was over for a bit.

***

This morning had been busier than most others. It took over an hour for him to serve all of the patrons, and he ran out of several of his regular items. Berwald finally sat down at one of the two awkward booths that looked out of the front window. Very few people sat and ate in the bakery, so the seats were mainly used so that he could sit down for a minute. The drift in between the morning and afternoon rushes was his favorite. He could sit in peace and bake with the sun up, and very few customers came by in the middle of the day. He turned on the TV that sat in the corner and watched the news while sipping coffee.

After about an hour, he grabbed his cup off of the table and went to the kitchen. The cup went in the sink and Berwald to the counter, where he had left dough to rise. Making bread was what really got him into baking. He loved the feel of the dough and the aroma of baking bread. Plus, it tasted great.

He had just put the last batch of bread in the oven when he heard the bell chime and someone timidly call out, "Hello? Anybody here?" Berwald answered with a quick, "Yes, j'st a sec," before brushing his hands off onto his black pants and walking to the front. He started to ask what the person needed, but the words refused to leave his mouth. A man with a beauty not of this world stood in front of the display case, his hands digging through a messenger bag flung over his shoulder. He had beautiful blond hair and a short staure, and his face was pure beauty. The man seemed to find whatever he was looking for and looked up. Apparently the man interpreted Berwald's stare as his infamous glare instead, because Berwald saw the color rush from the man's skin.

"O-oh, I can come back later if your busy," the man stuttered out.

"No need. 'M open now, what d'ya need?" The man still looked uneasy, but less so after hearing Berwald speak.

"I smelled the most delicious bread while passing by your shop , and I wanted to know if you had any more?" Berwald nodded his head and walked back to the kitchen. He grabbed a loaf off of the counter and a bag that he used for the bread. The man had resumed looking in the display case by the time Berwald got back. He seemed to be gravitating toward a batch of cookies.

"Do ya want some of those? They're fresh," Berwald asked. The man shook his head.

"Oh, no, I can't afford them. I should be fine with just my bread." Berwald grunted and walked over to the grab a bag for the cookies.

"They're on th' house. C'n I get your name? That way 'f ya ever come back, I have a name for a face." The man accepted the bag and turned to leave. Right before he opened the door, he turned and answered Berwald.

"My name is Tino."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Berwald waits to see if Tino shows up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in this, Berwald is 30 and Tino is like 28. I'm posting each chapter as soon as I finish it, as this is meant to be a short, fun fic.

"Tino."

Berwald found himself rolling the word over and over in his mouth the next day. It fit perfectly with the small man's appearance. _I really hope he comes by today_ , Berwald thought to himself while baking a last batch of cookies. The shop would open in a few minutes. He made his way into the front of the bakery and over to the door, where he went ahead and flipped the sign to "open".

The morning progressed as it normally did, Alfred coming in early and then the morning rush. Berwald settled into a booth and put his feet on the one opposite before turning on the TV. He had started to feel more and more anxious the longer he sat and eventually decided to start on the bread earlier than normal. _Why would he come back two days in a row anyway? Only like five of my customers do that._

He kneaded the dough in his hands with more care than normal, as he was wont to do when he was nervous. He put the bread in the oven before walking back to the front to watch more TV while waiting. He heard the door open and instantly perked up, but saw that it was one of the Vargas twins instead. He waited until they started talking to even try and figure out which one they were.

"Ve~, hello Mr. Scary Baker Man," Feliciano greeted, "I need to get some bread for dinner tonght. Do you have any yet?" Berwald nodded and went to the the display case. He grabbed the bread and bagged it before presenting it to Feliciano, who handed him cash.

"Ciao, Mr. Baker!" the ditzy Italian called as he left the shop. Berwald sighed. Everyone's first reaction was to be afraid of him. It really made him feel upset, because they only judged him by his appearance. In all reality, he was a gentle giant, bordering a total softie. He heard the timer ring and rushed to the kitchen in order to pull the bread out before it burned.

The hours passed swiftly towards 5 o'clock, closing time. There had been an unexpected rush around 4 o'clock of people Berwald had never even seen. Sure he didn't really get out and explore his neighborhood a lot, but usually the people in his shop were at least familiar.

He grabbed several of the boxes that he used to take leftovers to a homeless shelter a couple of blocks away. There was always something left, so he thought he might as well use it to help someone out. Berwald knew how much it meant for someone to help. His whole family spent several years saving to help him go to America, a lifelong dream of his.

Berwald grabbed his coat and put it on while grabbing his keys out of the coat pocket. His mom had sent him the beautiful blue and yellow jacket for Christmas last year, and he loved it. Boxes in hand, he left the front door and locked it.

"Wait!" He heard a familiar voice call from behind him. Berwald turned around and saw Tino. His heart skipped a beat while the blond came toward him.

"A-are you closed now? I was hoping I would get here before you did, but the kid I babysit's parents got home late."

Berwald shifted the boxes in his arms away from his face and answered with a simple, "Ya. Close at 5." He saw Tino's face fall and instantly felt the need to fix the situation.

"'ve still got some stuff though. Whatcha need?" The shorter man had a smile break across his face.

"Do you have any bread? I only have a little bit of cash for dinner, so sandwiches for dinner. Again. I really need to find something more steady than babysitting." Tino trailed off when he seemed to realize that he was rambling. Berwald grabbed the top box off of the stack and grabbed a loaf of bread.

"Here. 'nd if its employment you're lookin' for, c'me by tomorrow. I'm 'n need to hire an assistant and am puttin out applications." Tino nodded.

"I definitely will! Thanks," Tino paused. "I don't actually know your name. That's not good."

"'s Berwald."

"Thanks, Berwald! I'll see you tomorrow!" The man walked off and Berwald felt his heart beat faster. He liked the way his name sounded when Tino said it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a phone call.

Berwald placed the "Help Wanted" sign in the window. He had spent about an hour the before making it look perfect. _Now all I have to do is wait for people to show up_ , he thought. _Well, and deal with the rush of today_. He sat a stack of applications behind the counter, then went into the kitchen to grab the last tray of muffins. Alfred was already standing at the front counter, a few minutes earlier than normal. The younger man stifled a yawn and nodded at Berwald.

"The usual, please," Alfred said. Berwald packed up the requested food while giving the other man his best attempt at a questioning glance.

"What're ya doin' here so early?" He questioned Alfred, who seemed to be in much less of a rush this morning. "Oh. Well, I stayed with," Alfred hesitated for a minute, "a friend last night. He works at the same place as me and decided we needed to be up as early as possible this morning. I'm not very happy about it, clearly." Berwald nodded. He waved goodbye as the other man stumbled sleepily from the bakery.

***

The day passed normally for the most part. A couple of people, none of which were Tino, Berwald noticed bitterly, came in and filled out applications. Then around 4, the person he was looking for wandered into the shop. Berwald tried to greet the angelic man, but the words refused to leave his throat.

"Hi Berwald! I saw that you put out a sign. Do you have any applications left? I know it's kind of late in the afternoon." Berwald just nodded his head and clumsily handed over the last application. Tino grabbed it and sat in the booth that Berwald tended to watch TV from.

The baker glanced over at the clock that sat above the door and remembered that he had planned on closing early. He went ahead and walked over to the window and took the sign down. Tino finished the application faster than the other two had. The shorter man set it on the counter before slipping out with a simple bye. With the knowledge that he needed to make a choice of an assistant that day, Berwald locked the door and sat in a booth with the four applications.

It took him about ten minutes to narrow it down to two applications- Tino's and a man named Francis. It was hard, but Berwald believed that he came to the decision to hire Tino bias-free. He reached into his pants pocket, grabbed his phone, and went to call the number listed. However, he just stared at the phone screen. Talking on the phone made him very nervous. After about ten minutes of trying to burn a hole through the device, he decided to call.

The phone rang three times before anyone picked up. Berwald felt as if the time in between each ring stretched on for eternity. What little courage he had built up the minute Tino answered with, "Hello? This is Tino speaking."

Berwald could only make a series of grunts.

"Is this some kind of prank call?" Tino asked, sounding irritated and way different than the chipper man Berwald kind of knew.

"No! 's Berwald, th' baker." Berwald cringed as he heard his thick accent come out more than normal. Slightly annoyed at himself, he carried through with the rest of his statement. "'m calling to tell ya that ya got the job."

Berwald pulled the phone away from his ear, as Tino started squealing in what could only be excitement.

"Ya start the day after t'morrow. I would also like f'r ya to come in tomorrrow afternoon f'r some trainin," Berwald wrapped up.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll see you tomoorow afternoon then!" Tino said excitedly. Berwald told him goodbye and hung up the phone. He flopped down on the booth, drained. _And I've still got things to do_. He let out a loud sigh.


	4. And we Come Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! I know it's short and it's been forever, but I felt really bad for leaving this story unfinished, so I wrapped it up.

                Tino showed up around 3 in the afternoon. Berwald waved and greeted the other man. He reached underneath the counter for his bag, where he had a list for his new employee.

                "Here's a list a stuff that your job requires," Berwald said while handing Tino the paper. It was simple stuff like what he should wear and when to be at work. He was going to have Tino run the cash register and get stuff out of the display case.

                "Thank you so very much for this. I've been out of a job for so long and this will hopefully help me get out of this slump," Tino replied. Berwald cocked an eyebrow at the smaller man, but yet again, it didn't have the desired effect. Tino gasped and acted like he had offended the other.

                "I have a hard time gettin' my face to match what I meant. Guess it's 'cause I have to glare t'see well. What kind a slump are ya in?" Berwald questioned. Tino visibly relaxed, but didn't seem to be too happy about the question.

                "I lost my job at a software company because of downsizing. I had to move back in with my family about a year ago. I really want to get back out and on my own though. This was actually the first job I applied for, and I’m glad I got one so fast.” For some reason, the words made Berwald’s mood drop. He had hoped Tino really wanted the job, but it was just a stepping stone for the other.

***

Berwald’s first week of having an employee passed much better than he expected it to. The workload was split, so he could focus more on his true passion, baking. Surprisingly, his crush on Tino didn’t distract him from working. If anything, Tino brightened the bakery’s atmosphere tenfold. More new customers than ever had poured through the doors.

The baker sat at a booth on the last day of the month, doing his finances. Profits were way up, so he decided it would be a good time to introduce some new products. The ball of sunshine that was Tino was sweeping the floors and humming a tune Berwald didn’t recognize.

“What’re ya humming?” he asked after a few more minutes. The other man froze and a blush broke across his face.

“Oh, just a song I made up. I like to hum and sing while I work, but it’s hard to when I am constantly talking to customers,” was his reply. Berwald grunted in recognition and turned back to his finances. After a few minutes, Tino began to sing. The tune was one that Berwald recognized, a song that was popular a few years ago. He started to murmur the words in his low voice, but started to sing after a few seconds. His singing voice wasn’t very good, but he could carry a tune. Tino’s lovely voice carried well over his, and Berwald felt encouraged that the other didn’t stop.

“I didn’t know you listened to pop music,” Tino said after he had finished the song. Berwald shrugged and put down his pen. “Then again, I figure there’s a lot that we don’t know about you. Would you maybe like to get dinner and talk about it?” The smaller blond asked. Berwald felt his heart drop into his stomach and speed up at the same time. _I’m surely overthinking it._ However, when he turned, Tino had pink dusting his cheek.

What he had wanted for some time had finally presented itself, and the best part was, it came to him! He could deal with Tino moving on eventually, as long as he could have the other right now. Although the job may be temporary, Berwald hoped that the dinner would become something else and that a lasting relationship would blossom.

“I would love that,” was his reply.


End file.
